If You Wait Long Enough

 If You Wait Long Enough

“All good things come in time “ or so I’ve been told. I have also heard that if you wait long enough and work hard and stay focused you can achieve most anything. Well Mark and Marcia Woollums of Dexter, Mo. surely believe in the folklore. Read on and I’ll explain.

Story goes that some 25 to 30 years ago a young Mark saw an old truck he took a shine to. It belonged to a friend’s uncle who had purchased the truck new. However, usage and time had taken a toll on the old commercial vehicle but not ruined it beyond repair. So a restoration project was begun. An ill-fated project as things worked out. As life got in the way the old truck was stored in the milk barn waiting its turn to become important again.

Although Mark spied and admired the 1933 Chevy ½ pick-up, he lacked the funds to acquire it, assuming of course that the old gentleman wanted to sell it. Which he didn’t. So he just made a mental note of it and went on to others things. The Chevy sat in pieces stacked in a pile for 20 years.

Eventually Larry Carlson, the owners nephew and Mark’s friend, obtained the truck and once again Mark’s interest was peaked. History DOES repeat itself in that now Larry was ‘going to finish her one day’. Mark was busy with a family, some more varied projects and maintaining a place of his own now so funds were still not readily available. So he just kept track of both Larry and the ole ’33. Skip forward another 10 years. The bowtie hauler is still in pieces waiting for reassembly albeit in a different barn this time.

Then one day while talking with Larry (about the truck) a deal was struck!! Larry would trade the pile of truck parts for the 750 Honda motorcycle that Mark had! Well, it didn’t take long to transfer that title! The little Chevy was loaded onto a trailer and headed for Mark’s garage in no time flat. Then the fun began. It was fun for Mark because 1) he just loves redoing old things, 2) he had already fixed up several old vehicles by now, and 3) he had already done this same truck many times in his head over the years.

Work began in earnest when the body came off the frame and modifications to just about every part were planned. When the dust settled and the old truck finally saw the world again it was a very neat street rod. A very neat home built street rod that would bring a smile to all who saw it. The old six got ‘deep sixed’ in favor of the reliable 350 V/8 backed by an equally reliable 350 turbo. An S-10 lost its rear and the ’33 found it tucked in the back under a much modified ’64 Chevy step side bed. The ’64 unit was sectioned, shortened, narrowed and capped to fit the size and shape of the old Chevy in order to replace the flat bed that came with the truck. The original ’33 fenders were then adapted to it.

Being a believer in doing things at home from scratch Mark pirated a Pinto front suspension and placed it under the boxed front frame rails. Once all the chassis and running gear was detailed and readied, attention turned to 60 plus year old cab. Again Mark made what he needed and altered things to his taste. While he was at it he added a tilt column, power windows, cruise control , remote door openers and air conditioning! Then in his small wooden shop he painted everything in an aqua color that looks great on the ole girl. Next they finished the interior in what Mark calls ‘mouse grey’ cloth.

Mark says that hardest part of the resurrection was the chassis as there was precious little room for all he wanted in there. The easiest he said was the interior. It had to be functional and comfortable. It is. Mark’s wife, Marcia, said that though she is new to street rodding (they have been married for three years) she enjoys the trips in the truck and all the attention it receives. They guessimate that it sees about 5000 miles a year. Might be more if one could get him out of the shop where he has three more projects progressing.

This is one fine entirely home built street rod. Although the little truck is rare today, it looks right at home on the road hauling the Woollums to and from events. Way to go Mark!

Lost and (needs) Found

I know all about this stuff called progress and how it’s supposed to make life better. However, sometimes I wish we could, or would, just leave well enough alone. You know, I miss nickel cokes. I miss quarter car magazines. I miss poodle skirts and pegged jeans. I miss the corner soda fountain! Yeah, yeah, I hear you. Don’t live in the past !! But some times……….

This ole world has seen a lot of changes in a relatively short period of time. We have traveled from to days of horse and buggy to the era of space travel within the life time of many of us. We have grown out of the wood cook stove to the microwave and beyond. From the pony express to the p.c. with e-mail (with pictures no less).


For those in our mist not quite into the ‘golden years’ yet, we have migrated from the tube television to the digital surround sound. Or from the fuzzy black and white small screen to the 60” home theatre. Well anyway you get my point. We’ve changed a lot.

In some ways that’s one of the reasons that our hobby keeps on growing. Changes that is. It doesn’t matter if you’re into traditional rods and custom cars or relish the newer trends that stretch the limits of both metal and man. The main fact remains that you want change. Many among us want to relive their youth, or at least what they wish it had been like. Others of course are doing the things that were not possible as they forged their way through life.

One of the greatest aspects of our hobby is the ‘new kid on the block’. He is either an old hand just starting to create his dream or a young buck welding his way into tomorrow’s memories. Which ever applies, he or she thrives on change! Be it going beyond where those before him had stopped or developing newer, better ways to explore more diverse change, the fact is still centered around change.


Just as in by gone days not all change is good. But creativity knows no boundaries and beauty is still in the eye of the beholder. ‘Nough said there! Anyway nothing is sacred when it comes to change. Especially in our area of change, i.e. the automobile. We will change headlights, taillights, tail fins, side trim, top height, body height, color, inside, outside, under side and anything else we can find to individualize. Some just because we can, other changes actually enhance the vehicle. Again it’s the eye and beauty thing.

For a lot of us more mature enthusiasts(read that older) certain items that are all but gone have left an empty spot in our yearning for satisfaction. You know the ‘good ole days’. Now it is a given fact that the good ole days are in direct relation to your age. I mean to me that term applies to the late 50’s and early 60’s. If you’re in your 40’s it’s the 70’s that occupy your memory banks. The “good ole days” for you are the way things were when you began to notice them.

Each generation has left its own mark on that area. Each has in its own right created change for what in their eyes was the betterment of whatever. Hopefully each generation has profited from the one before it. Profited in that one learned from the other. Today’s builders create a far superior product to that of the early pioneers in our hobby. Of course advancements in construction equipment aided much of the advancement, but that in its self was change.

I miss the old days when a bunch of us ‘experts’ would gather at somebody’s garage and bust a few knuckles for the sake of building a car. I miss the Saturaday trips to the bone yard to scrounge what we could make fit. I miss the trial and error method of doing something not done before. You know it’s amazing what a ‘smoke wrench’ and a hammer can accomplish in the hands of an experienced craftsman(?). I miss the challenge of that ‘first’ time.
I miss the swap meets where we actually could swap parts.

But there is a lot to be said for today’s garage scene. For one it’s usually a lot cleaner and safer than its older counter part. And generally speaking those partaking in the re-building process are more knowledgeable than before. We can now let our fingers do the walking for parts, though it just doesn’t seem as much fun. I mean can you see yourself calling your buddies over on a week end for a trip through the old catalog ??

Also gone from the scene is the AM radio. Along with it went FM converter. Remember the rear seat speaker fader switch ?? Or the reverberator?? We now boost of multi Cd units and satellite radio!!! The sound systems cost as much as our whole car used to cost!! You can even hide the unit and operate it via remote control from a credit card sized control panel. Amazing. While working on installing one of the afore mentioned modern inventions, I discovered something else that I miss. A simple little item that I see no reason to abandon. An item so usefull, so necessary that its demise is a complete mystery to me.

That’s when I realized that I had joined those before me in ranks of ‘old timers’. I had to call my grandkids to find out how to turn the @#*+%# thing ON!! There is no OFF/ON switch! No where does it say ‘on’. Such a simple task to perform. It isn’t difficult. It doesn’t require a degree. I just want to turn the thing on. So where’s the switch ??

Yep, there are a lot of things a miss in today’s world.


SEE YOU ON THE STREET

RON GOBEN

Greatest Invention of All Time

Greatest Invention of All Time

Throughout history mankind has documented and recorded a wealth of information concerning events and deeds that have affected mankind in one way or another. Inventions and discoveries of all types have been applauded and heralded as important to the well being of man. Of course in the VERY early times it was the discovery of fire that forever changed man’s quest for comfort, be it warmth or food. Next came the use of tools albeit crude rough drafts of things to come, they none the less figured out that a club or a rock used in the given manner made the task at hand easier.
Exalted as the greatest invention of all is the wheel! After all the wheel changed life in many different areas. Aside from the normally thought of method of transportation, the wheel significally reduced the effort required to move any load for whatever purpose it needed to be moved. It also lead to further developments including gears, conveyors, and dozens of rotating machines. Objects, people, tools, and just about everything imaginable was enhanced via the wheel.
Now skip forward a few thousand years and the general populous has embraced the wheel with amazing vigor! Most noticeable is by way of the automobile. We LOVE our cars! We are so caught up with these personal transportation machines that there are over 700 different makes available world wide to suit whatever tastes you have. As if that weren’t enough, an entire industry has sprung up that manufactures aftermarket pieces and parts to further enhance or customize the car to personalize it more. Street rodding and customizing grew from that need to be different, to go faster, to individualize the metal dream boat to our own tastes. We can change colors, wheels, grilles, add spoilers,
Ground effect packages, bumpers, exhaust systems, and on and on and on
For really serious individualists, there are shops that can reshape anything on your car to whatever shape you think would make it look better. They can beat and bang panels into new proportions with almost magical skills.
Of course there are also those of us that prefer to modify the ole buggy ourselves into what ever floats our own personal boat. We will work diligently and tirelessly at our chosen task of remaking whatever part we decided needed redoing. We cut, weld , hammer, bend, twist, hammer some more, and then hammer again until we are satisfied with the results. That brings me back to where I started, the greatest invention of all time.
You see, I disagree with the boys that picked the wheel as our greatest triumph! Oh, I’ll concede that the wheel was an important discovery and that it has greatly improved life as we know it. BUT…… how do you suppose those cavemen made that first wheel? What was used to create such a marvel? After the wheel was perfected(?), what was used to make something to use it with?
Well kiddo, it was a hammer!!!! That’s right a hammer. Now it probably wasn’t one even similar to those in the work shops of today, but make no mistake it WAS a hammer.
Most likely the first hammer was a stone of some sort used by hand to beat the #*@* out of something. Later a brave and ambitious person attached it to a stick for handle and found that performed better. The rest is history!! We have been beating things into one shape or another for centuries. And it all started with that one man shaping a rock with a rock! Pounding that rock against the other until it began to form the desired shape.
Today there aren’t many places where a hammer can’t be found. They come, just like wheels, in all shapes and sizes. And yes even colors. We have claw hammers, tack hammers, body hammers, dead blow hammers, rubber hammers, sledge hammers, big hammers, little hammers, power hammers, electric hammers, drill hammers, and on and on. We build things with our hammers. We knock things down with our hammers. We shape things with our hammers. We even make hammers with our hammers. There isn’t a house, a car, a piece of furniture, a machine, or anything that didn’t get to its shape or purpose without the use of a hammer at some point in its creation.
Today’s hammers are most often a forgotten tool thrown into a tool box or closet just waiting for its next assignment. We don’t give it much thought. But when the occasion arises, that trusty ole hammer is ready and willing to assist us again in pounding the daylights out of whatever falls prey to our needs or desires. It even serves us, at times,
in a therapeutic manner. After several attempts at achieving a stated task has failed, folks have been known to beat the poor hammer mercilessly against whatever happens to be handy at the time. Or in rare instances, a hammer has been thrown madly any direction, thereby rendering instant relief to the frustrated user. Today we call that ‘multi-tasking’.
So in retrospect I think it’s safe to say that those in our past made a grave misjudgment by granting the honor of our greatest achievement to an item that was not possible without the use of our beloved hammer! While the hammer has been responsible for many a swore finger, bruised hand, broken window, bent part and so on, these things are just a fact of life. When compared to the legacy of the wheel…..well let’s just say we’re safe with the hammer. So in the future how about giving that trusted tool a little more respect. Maybe even a special place of prominence within the tool box. Say how about a whole museum full of nothing but hammers of all sizes and shapes . Or perhaps a holiday just for hammer owners, or how about…………. Naw!! Just remember, the hammer MAKES things when used correctly, and that the wheel came second!!!!!!!!!!

See You On The Street
Ron Goben

WHAT PRICE TICKET????

It seems as though everything in life has a ‘range’, if you will. You know, while you’re shopping for just the right whatever you find a ‘good, better, and best’ scenario. The advertising folks would have us believe that it’s all for your benefit. Something for everyone and every budget kind of logic. You be the judge and decide for yourself which of their product line fits you.

Let’s start at the beginning with their ‘basic’, economy, or standard line. Most of the time it will perform its intended task. In short it gets the job done. No frills, extras or additives, just the straight forward job at hand. It is always priced below the rest of the product line. As such it sometimes gets labeled as economy ’, ‘bargain or just plain ‘cheap’! But still it fulfills a need.

Next we go to the ‘better’ product. It is the same as the good, but with some ‘extras’ added. This time we get a little extra action for the end result. We not only accomplish the task at hand but we also get a couple of other benefits as well. Perhaps it performs an additional related task to that of the original problem. Maybe just a stronger application of the ‘good’ version. Whatever, but the jest of it is that it’s better AND more expensive.

Of course we can always choose to go straight for ‘best’ of what is being offered. There we are lead to believe is the greatest benefit from the use of the product that can be obtained. Here we are going to not only accomplish the original task, and the ‘extras’ of the better version, but go way beyond that. The accolades are never ending. The satisfaction derived is unparalleled (so “they” say).

Now as a new comer to the whole shopping scene, I find all these choices difficult to navigate. I mean my wife sends me to the store for a can of green beans. Simple, right? However when I get there and find the bean isle I’m confronted with a dozen or so varieties of green beans!! Not only are there different kinds of beans, there several brands and prices differences. Geez, do I get the French cut, the string, the whole, the chopped or the whole *#@^$# bean plant just so that I get the right thing??? Next do I buy the cheaper store brand, the national brand, or the premium brand bean?? I mean come on, all I want is a can of beans!!

Lots of choices. Several decisions to be made. In the back of my mind I’m thinking that all I’m going to do is EAT the things. No matter which I choose, I will still have a meal and enjoy them. So all I really have to decide is which of the choices suits ME best. Sounds simple enough. But wait, if I get the store brand and everyone else here buys the more expensive stuff, will I be a cheap skate? Or do the others know something that I don’t? Will I be laughed at for buying that brand?? Why do I care what someone else might think anyway??

Truth is we all care what others think. Some people care more than others, but we all consider what’s being said about us and our choices. That also applies to our hobby.
You see the end result should be to have fun with our old cars and make good friends while doing so. It shouldn’t matter if you drive a primered beater or a professionally built $200k show piece. If you DRIVE it and it suits you, then who cares what others think? Just as the selves of my local grocery is stocked with a large variety of products of varying quality and costs, so are the many rod runs and shows I attend every year. There is a place and need for all of them.

Street rodding can be enjoyed in the “store” brand same as it can be in the “premium” brand. The only difference in getting into the show is the cost of your ticket!!!! If you can afford the premium quality, great!!! Go for it. But if your budget dictates something less, go for that!!! Fun is in the doing and sharing. You only loose out if you don’t join in! We can and should all learn from each other. The cars I build today are a great improvement over the first couple I attempted to assemble. I learned from those more experienced and affluent.

Nothing gets me going faster than to have some one look at my ride and ask, “How did you do that?” I love it. It’s my turn to help someone else decide which can of beans is right for them!!!!

SEE YOU ON THE STREET
Ron